New Courage
by Admeet
Summary: Faline has a horrid nightmare and can only find comfort in Bambi - but is there more to this dream?
1. Lover's Nightmare

AN: I'm going for a more darker tone with this story. I feel more emotionally connected when writing stories with this tone or a sort of young romance theme.

**New Courage**

The night sky covered the great forest in a never-ending haze of darkness. The white moon and the stars shone their brilliance over the woods. A few crickets chirped producing their distinctive call to others. Every animal lay asleep within the safety of the forest, all except for one little faun.

Faline lay with her mother in their home within the thicket. She couldn't get a wink of sleep because she was thinking too much of Bambi, the one she loved. It had been a day or two since their encounter with love in the beautiful blue meadow. She would never forget that time when they kissed beside the flowing pond surrounded by those blue meadow flowers. But something else nagged her mind.

Since their time in the blue meadow, she had begun to feel worried about Bambi. What if he was to get hurt? Bambi was a confident and brave faun who would never give up in protecting her. But someday, there would come a time where she would have to stick up for him and protect him with all her might. She would have to prove her unbreakable loyalty to him one day.

That said she didn't feel like she could stand up to Bambi's rival, the cocky and arrogant Ronno. She could almost stand his boastfulness and his smugness and some of his threats to the two failed to deliver his message, but when he got a little too pushy - things would become a little too difficult. She couldn't muster up the courage to step up and throw Ronno off his place. His over protectiveness and short temper would strike fear into her heart. But she couldn't let Bambi be tormented by Ronno all the time. She had to stand up for him and be brave like him.

But that would have to wait for time in the future. For now, she had to try and sleep to get a good start to the morning ahead. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply relieving herself of those thoughts.

Faline opened her eyes only to be greeted by the harshness of the sun's rays. She yawned deeply as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. However, she then saw she wasn't in the thicket – her home. She was in the middle of small grassy area surrounded by the trees. She picked herself up and looked around. "Why am I here?" She thought. Everything seemed and looked normal, until she heard a faint cry in the distance. "Bambi!"

She darted off through the woods in the direction of the cry. She felt terrified as she thought Bambi was in danger. She saw more light appearing in the distance; she was nearing the forest edge. She broke through the edge and gasped in shock.

There was Bambi, lying at the edge of a cliff looking terribly beaten up. But standing over him was the outline of an older faun. "Look at you" it spoke, "lying there, cowering from me". Faline then instantly knew who this faun was, Ronno. "You thought you could stand up to me" Ronno continued, "but now here you are, defeated by the one and only Ronno!" Faline froze in place. "But what use is there to you now that you have been defeated. So… goodbye" Ronno spoke plainly. He violently kicked Bambi in the stomach and the young prince was sent hurtling off the cliffside into who knew what.

"NO!" Faline shouted in pure terror as Ronno stood over the Cliffside, his task complete. But then, Faline's terror instantly turned into Anger. Ronno had just killed her love and he didn't feel any sort of remorse. "You heartless monster!" she shouted in rage as she charged towards the killer. However, Ronno turned quickly and faced the attacking Faline. She skidded to a halt and froze again in fear. Ronno stared right into her eyes breaking every bit of confidence within her. "Watcha' gonna do now, Faline now that I have you!" Ronno said coldly. Faline closed her eyes but still saw the horrific image of Ronno's stare. "No!" she shouted, "Please! Go away". She started to sob uncontrollably, "No! MAKE IT STOP!"

Faline screamed and jolted upright. She panted heavily as she looked around to find herself in the safety of the thicket. Her mother, Ena, cautiously looked at the worrying faun. "What's wrong, Faline?" she gently asked. Faline then suddenly took off from the thicket and into the dark woodland. "Faline!" her mother shouted scrambling out of their home. Ena immediately lost sight of her faun and stood in shock and confusion.

"Is Bambi safe?" the thought rattled through Faline's mind as she raced to Bambi's part of the thicket. She dodged every obstacle in her way to find the one she loved; Tears ran freely from her eyes. Hints of light from the sun rising in the east lit up part of the woodland. She had to know if Bambi was safe.

Meanwhile, Bambi shuffled about as he felt the warmth of the sun's rays start to make it to him. He opened his eyes slowly and groggily yawned. It hadn't been the best sleep of his life, but it was good enough. He looked outside to see the sun starting to rise. It was still dark outside but the light was enough for him to make out the woods. He looked back towards his father to see him sleeping peacefully; it wouldn't be for another hour before he woke up. Seeing as though he wasn't going to get back to sleep in a hurry, he quietly crept outside to avoid waking the Great Prince.

The ground felt soft and slightly damp as the morning dew had settled upon the foliage. He breathed in deeply and let the cool air fill his lungs. The sereneness of the world around him made him feel content. However, that calmness was about to come to an end.

The young prince could feel something from his hooves. It felt like a young faun galloping towards him alarmingly fast. Before he had time to react, he was tackled to the ground by the faun; the two rolled into an open part of the forest.

When they came to a halt, the faun was on top of Bambi. He was annoyed at the sudden intrusion in his calm state but he quickly realised that the faun was crying. But then he realised that this was no other faun. "Faline?" he tried to get up but the crying faun pinned him down, "Wha… what's the matter?" "I… I thought… you were dead" Faline whispered; she was starting to hiccup. Bambi comforted her as best as possible. "Shhhh" he gently stroked Faline's coat, "It was just a bad dream. I'm here". Bambi slowly rolled onto his side bringing Faline with him. She just cried into his chest, deeply relieved that he was alive - it just all seemed too real.

The Great Prince stirred from his sleep from the crash outside. Even he, the oldest deer in the forest who holds the largest reputation, wouldn't want to be woken up at such an hour. But he then noticed that Bambi wasn't beside him. He peered around the thicket entrance to see Bambi with Faline who appeared to be crying. He decided to leave the two alone seeing that Bambi had the situation under control. A few moments later, Ena came rushing towards the entrance. She was about to question the whereabouts of Faline when the Great Prince silenced her with a gentle shush. He indicated the two fauns' presence. "I think they will need some time alone" the Great Prince's deep voice resonated quietly. Ena nodded in response and sat down beside the Great Prince; she was relieved that Faline was safe and was in the capable hooves of Bambi. The two watched the pair of fauns silently. The sun had now fully risen and was eliminating the last shadows of darkness; the new day was now in full swing.


	2. Morning Hope

**AN: Finally after 3 years, the second chapter is up. Inspiration has come back after watching Bambi again on DVD. Enjoy :)**

**Admeet**

**Note: Halfway through this chapter, the paragraph structure does change. It has been roughly three years since I last used my old ways of paragraph structure but this new way should be for the better. I apologize in advance if this annoys anyone in any way.**

An hour or two later, Bambi opened his eyes to find the forest bathed in sunlight. He looked down to see Faline fast asleep. He smiled warmly as Faline cooed in her sleep. Just a few hours ago she was totally upset over her bad dream, now however she felt peaceful with Bambi by her side. He yawned as the effects of sleep lightly burdened him. He then noticed that they were entirely alone. The Great Prince and Ena were gone from the edge of the thicket. "_Maybe, Father went on to do his duties_" he thought.

He felt a shift at his side as Faline was starting to wake up. "Morning" he said gently nuzzling her snout. "mmm… Morning" she cooed. Her warmth made Bambi feel content, as if everything was all too complete. "Sleep well?" he asked softly. "Yes, thanks to you" Faline replied nuzzling back at Bambi. She felt so calm like nothing had happened. She had never felt more at ease when Bambi was with her.

"I think we should go for a walk" Faline suggested, "just to try and shake off the sleepiness". She yawned emphasising her suggestion. "Sure" Bambi replied yawning as well, "I think I could use it". Faline chuckled and the pair stood up from their embrace. Smiling at each other, they began to wonder into the forest, glad to be with each other's protection.

Spring time was one of the most important seasons for all the animals. Of course, it couldn't be spring if the groundhog didn't see his shadow. That day was particularly cloudy as the April Showers were starting to build up. When the groundhog emerged from his long hibernation, the sun was covered and his shadow was never revealed; spring was finally here. April was the time for the showers to kick-start the growth of the forest once more.

However, the sun shone through the green leaved trees to create a vibrant colour within the forest floor; the air was damp but warm. The weather was nothing but perfect. However, for Bambi, the atmosphere was a little tense.

Both he and Faline walked in silence through the thickly lined corridors that made up their large world. The young prince kept on wandering what particular reason could influence Faline on thinking such dangerous thoughts. The very thought of dying in front of her very eyes sent shivers down his spine. But yet he couldn't think of anybody who would go out of their way to personally harm somebody without regret. He knew most of the woodland animals as they would make their way to introduce themselves to such a character with high authority. So naturally, none would dare be inclined to do such a horrible act. However, only one character out of all of them stood out as a potential culprit, Ronno.

Bambi couldn't stand his boisterous attitude against all the other animals, especially around Faline. However, it was hard to classify him as an incredibly vicious animal. He was merely a troublemaker in the eyes of many, always trying to get his own way in life no matter what. The only times when Ronno made himself out to be a threat was when he had lost his dignity when being accidentally assaulted by Bambi or when he took one step too far when personally insulting him.

Bambi's thoughts were soon interrupted however as the pair came upon a large pond in the middle of a forest clearing. Bambi thought that taking a morning drink would be a good idea to freshen up after last night. Bambi lowered his head down to the water level to drink while Faline copied his movements and drank with him.

The forest plant life swayed in utter silence as the tinniest of winds flew threw the undergrowth. But again however and more the same, the conversations between the two young fawns remained utterly silent.

Faline was debating whether or not to tell the full details of her dream to Bambi. It was a scary aspect to behold on such an innocent fawn. Whether or not Bambi would react badly to the horrifying image the nightmare portrayed was something she would have to find out for herself. She couldn't help but think that these visions were the fortelling of a possible grim future for the pair. She didn't want to see her love suffer the thoughts of possibly dying early I the future – but then again she didn't want to hold it back any further to let it suddenly build up into a crescendo of painful memories and a terrifying loss. She would have to tell him now in a hope of avoiding a tradgedy. She looked to her love.

"Bambi" she started, "I wanted to talk about that dream I had last night".

Intrigued, Bambi rose his head to meet hers wondering what she had to explain.

"In my dream, there was a fawn standing over you at the edge of a cliff. You were terribly injured".

She stuttered at the thought of recalling such a terrible vision.

"I only recognised this fawn by his voice. It was Ronno. He was... mocking you and then... he... he kicked you off the cliff to your death".

At this, Faline started to sob at the thought of losing her love to such an awful act. To her comfort however, Bambi brought her into a small hug in an effort to calm her spirits.

Bambi felt conflicted. He wanted to believe that all of what Faline described was just a feverish dream and never going to happen – but at the same time he felt that such events could become a reality if given the right circumstances. But one thing stood out for sure, he wouldn't allow a single animal to get the wrong hoof, hand, claw, or paw upon Faline, the love of his life in this, potentially, very harsh world.

"Faline" Bambi spoke with a new found confidence, "I will not let anyone break apart our bond, I will not let anyone destroy our love together, and I will not die".

At this, Bambi brought his nuzzle against hers in a deep kiss.

All of Faline's worry about their future suddenly disappeared as she kissed her love back passionately. She immediately dismissed the ideas that Bambi couldn't hold himself and her security against the dangers that inhabited the world around them. He was his protector and kindred spirit in this bleak but yet also wonderful world.

As their kiss ended, both fawns breathed deeply, yet quietly, taking in as much of the romanticised atmosphere as they possibly could. Their time in the mystical clearing inhabited by the wonderous blue flowers had molded them into a perfect loving couple. They both knew that nothing other then eventual natural death could separate their strong bond together.

Bambi looked into the sparkling azure eyes of Faline.

"I love you more then anything in the world right now, and nothing can change that".

At his words, Faline embraced him once again feeling touched by his sweet and kind nature.

"I love you too, Bambi" she delicately whispered.

Bambi smiled lovingly at her and returned her with his affection.

Now seeing that their worries were over and the atmosphere had returned to a much calmer state, Bambi suggested their first activity for the day.

"Let's go and see what Thumper and Flower are up to today. I'm sure Thumper will be glad to get away from his sisters for today".

Faline chuckled at the thought of Thumper's conflicted opinions of his sisters.

"Alright then, let's go" she stated walking off into the rough direction of Thumper's home in the forest.

Bambi followed eagerly and the pair walked side by side through the dense growth of their home.

Unbeknownst to them however, a pair of green eyes belonging to a young chestnut fawn watched the pair with vengeful thoughts of the young prince coursing through his mind. The fawn knew that his time would come. All it would take was one humiliating blow against the prince and Faline would become his, simple as that. Eagerly, he set off in light pursuit of the pair, intent on not being seen. He would turn the life of his new enemy upside down, cruelly and most of all, painfully.


End file.
